Tag Archives: G*d

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 7, 2015
Tags: G*d, ,   

Trusting the Spirit — Rev. David J. Schreffler

imageAugust 7, 2015

“Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in their belts – and to put on sandals but not to wear two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the area. If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Mark 6:7-11

“I’m a planner. Even on vacation I like to have a very detailed itinerary. And if it’s not too much, God, I would greatly appreciate a detailed outline of the next ten years. When I was ten years old I went on a vacation with my friend and her family. I came home disappointed about the trip because nothing happened the way I had planned it. So to be sent out with nothing and guided only by the Holy Spirit—terrifying! Let’s get practical. No one should leave home without their smart phone and a credit card. Right? At least give the disciples a map with friendly homes circled! Yet, there was a purpose and blessing behind sending the disciples out with nothing but the Holy Spirit. And today there is still purpose and blessing in putting down our smartphones and trusting the Holy Spirit to guide us.” (Luther Seminary website devotions, Jennifer Beil, July 3, 2015)

Trust….it is a funny thing. We like to think we live with trust in our hearts, but only living life and true experiences will tell the tale of our trust. How willing are we to venture out without the things that we use as crutches in our lives — cell phones, credit cards, GPS devices, items of comfort and luxury that we are told constantly that we cannot live without? When we have exhausted all of the other devices that trick us into thinking we can trust them, hoping and trusting they will give us direction, we may finally learn that the Holy Spirit is the most difficult to use, but gives us the clearest direction — but it takes time and trust.

The Holy Spirit is easy to tap into, but requires time, focus, and determination to understand where it is leading us. When you got your first GPS device, it took time to understand how to use it. The same is true with the Holy Spirit, however, you can use the Holy Spirit anywhere, anytime, any way you discern. But it takes time, and trust.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on August 3, 2015
Tags: , G*d,   

Vessels For G*d — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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August 3, 2015

“This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”   Amos 7:7-15 (NRSV)

“If we’re really honest with ourselves…When the truth hurts, we deny, deflect, and defend ourselves. Like a bug hiding from the light, we scurry to find the safety of dark corners so we can hide from the change to which we are being called. But even the darkness is as light to our Lord Jesus who followed us to the very depths of death itself that we might yet be freed to walk in the light.”
(Krista Vingelis, Pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church of Porterville, Calif.)

Let me tell you my friends, I pray every day, every day that G*d might give me the wisdom and the insight about what G*d would want us to do in this or that scenario. And often I feel like our friend the prophet Amos, who knows that he is just a vessel for G*d — and that unpopular topics can result in unpopular sermons — and yet, like Amos, pastors are just regular Joes and Janes, called by G*d, trying to hear the voice of G*d through a cacophony of voices ranting opinions, claiming to “know G*d’s mind”, views of political correctness, and secular humanism. And still I am trying to decide, in this place, in this world, in this community:

Is G*d dropping a line to say “enough is enough”?

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or,
Is G*d once again trying to tell us or remind us how G*d decides to draw a line in the sand?

As a Lutheran, I believe that the word of G*d is a living, breathing word that speaks to us through all times and places, and can help us see what G*d is doing in an ever-changing world. We Lutherans struggle through such issues, reading G*d’s word and remaining engaged in the conversation praying that the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us so that we might get a glimpse of the lines in the sand that G*d is drawing. But it will not be easy, nor will it be immediate. It might even be painful, because change is never easy, especially when we think we have a grip on life, the universe and everything, and then G*d decides to challenge us. That is exactly what G*d did to first century Judaism in the person of Jesus Christ. And then the Holy Spirit came to embolden a rag tag group of disciples who risked life and limb to spread the word about Jesus. Why should we believe that G*d wouldn’t do that to us today — send the Spirit to us to help us each achieve a new life in Christ. Just like Christ came to change our understanding of how G*d works in the world, this same word still points us to a G*d who is still surprising us, still teaching us, and still leading us to new possibilities.

Pastor Dave